Blogs

“Whatever you do, do it well. Do it so well that when people see it, they will want to come back to see you do it again, and they will want to bring others to show them how well you do what you do.” -- Walt Disney

I saw this quote in a stairwell while at a meeting with Disney in Orlando and was struck by its clarity, its simplicity and the passion it implies. I have thought a lot about this quote since my visit to Disney. On the surface, it is clear how it applies to Disney’s theme parks and anyone who has visited or studied Disney can understand and appreciate the message it implies to any “cast member.”

But how does this apply to a manufacturer, a contractor or an engineer?

I belong to a peer group of executives hosted by Vistage. At a recent meeting, the speaker was Mike Richardson, a very accomplished executive who is now consulting companies on being more agile. To him, corporate agility is all about planning for future growth, while always keeping an eye out for potential disasters that lurk around the corner. Two take-aways from the talk resonated with me.

First, ... "The task of imagination is to do the work of crisis without the crisis." (Roberto Unger). Think about the implications of this as we near the end of a calendar, and maybe fiscal, year. For all the plans and perspectives we go through in thinking about the future, do we consider the downside and the potential for a crisis? Fundamental to this consideration is an open and searching dialog amongst a management team.

Wrapping up our series of milestone projects from Austin's 100 years of serving the aviation, aerospace and defense industry and looking to the future ...

When the Wright Brothers took off at Kitty Hawk in 1904, The Austin Company had already been designing and building industrial projects for more than a quarter century.

Twelve years later, manned flight was becoming a commercial reality and Austin was called upon to deliver its first aircraft assembly plant, a project for Curtiss Aeroplane and Motor Company. Since first serving the industry in 1916, Austin has partnered with aircraft manufacturing companies including Airbus, Boeing, Lockheed Martin, Northrop Grumman and others, to build some of the world’s finest, and largest, production facilities.

Continuing our series of milestone projects from Austin's 100 years of serving the aviation, aerospace and defense industry ...

Over the past 100 years, The Austin Company has accomplished remarkable feats in the design, engineering and construction of aviation and aerospace manufacturing facilities. Since the early 1900’s, aircraft and aerospace manufacturers have relied on Austin’s architects, engineers and constructors to successfully complete tremendously challenging assignments.

By Brandon Davis, General Manager and Vice President Operations, Cleveland

The proliferation of email and other means of mass communication have certainly added many good things to our workplace and culture; however, one thing it has not done is strengthen relationships in the workplace. I am sure you have been guilty at times – I know I have been. Sometimes it seems so much easier to write a quick email rather than pick up the phone and talk to someone, or perhaps it is late at night and you want to send an email now before you forget (since it is fresh on your mind). Whatever the logic, and trust me – I have used them all – please stop and consider for a moment whether that message should be delivered over email.

Continuing our series of milestone projects from Austin's 100 years of serving the aviation, aerospace and defense industry ...

Four years ago, with airlines throughout North America increasing their demand for one of Airbus’ popular fuel-efficient jetliners, the aerospace giant was eager to put its footprint in the United States. It wanted to establish an A320 manufacturing facility in the United States, and after narrowing down its search, the European aircraft maker eventually chose Mobile, Alabama – “the Heart of Dixie” – for its first U.S.-based plant.

Continuing our series of milestone projects from Austin's 100 years of serving the aviation, aerospace and defense industry ...

The end of the 20th century launched an amazing opportunity for The Austin Company – a chance to further its longtime partnership with Boeing by designing and building facilities needed for their new Delta IV family of rockets.

Early in 1998, Boeing awarded Austin a contract to design, engineer and construct a 2.5-million-square-feet facility that would be used to build the largest structural component of the Delta IV rocket series. The Delta IV is an expendable launch system in Boeing’s Delta series, and the rockets are used for commercial satellite and U.S. defensive purposes (U.S. Air Force Evolved Expendable Launch Vehicle (EELV)). The new Delta IV would have the capability of carrying a much heavier payload – up to 28,000 pounds.

Continuing our series of milestone projects from Austin's 100 years of serving the aviation, aerospace and defense industry ...

In the early 1990s, Boeing and The Austin Company set out to increase the size of the world’s largest industrial building. The facility wouldn’t be just a bit larger. This expansion of Boeing’s 747/767 Everett, Washington, facility would be jaw-dropping.

The Austin Company celebrates our centennial of serving the aviation and aerospace industry this year. This centennial is marked by many significant milestone projects, beginning in 1916 with the creation of a facility in Buffalo, NY, to manufacture training aircraft for the U.S. War Department as it prepared for the important role aviation would play in military, and later, civilian roles. A mere twelve years after Kitty Hawk, the industry was committed to producing nearly 7,000 JN-4 “Jenny’s” to train pilots. After the war was over, these planes sold for $200.

Quality, like safety, is a constant journey of fighting complacency, human nature, and in some ways, the basic laws of physics.

The second law of thermodynamics states that all things tend to chaos unless acted upon by an outside force. I have written on this before and it bears repeating, as it relates to quality and safety. The essence of Newton’s law as it relates to quality and safety is that it takes effort to be safe and to apply quality practices. It takes extra effort to check your PPE, to remove a tripping hazard, to make sure barricades are properly anchored.